Stock Trader Advisory

An extremely volatile week that moved on breaking banking news. To start, the announced government prop-up of Silicon Valley Bank calmed investors, but then bank stock prices dropped. Mid-week, a consortium of private banks announced their financial support of failing First Republic Bank, after which its stock price rose, then fell. Friday, UBS announced a take-over of failing Credit Suisse, after which bank stock prices rose, then fell. Continued bank stock price declines indicate many investors just do not yet believe the banking crisis is over or contained. Time will tell on that. In the meantime, it was a mixed week for the broad market. Most of our gains continue to arise from short positions, with our long positions varying from continuing slumps to recovering rises – and big upward moves for gold stocks. As with prior weeks, analytics do not find many trades – the institutional investors remain steadfast holders, although that means they (and we) are enduring unusually high historic levels of loss in some long positions at the moment. Very few trades for our newest subscribers to act on.

Performance for our Level 1 Newsletter (20 of the top 60 performing stocks) 1 new weekly high among long positions. Big rise in AU and LE. 5 stocks with double-digit % long gains: AU +18 ASTS +25 PUMP +60 DDD +16 LE +10 5 new weekly lows among short positions. 3 stocks with double-digit % short gain: ALT +14 KIROY +23 MDRX +23 We follow the smart money, institutional investors. Subscribe and get your first month free at www.stocktraderadvisory.com

A huge, brutal week-long market sell-off took place, involving almost every stock, with prices plunging to the extent it was the worst week for the stock market in over 10 months. It began with the Fed chairman affirming the Fed has not done enough to tame inflation, such that higher interest rates for a longer period of time are now a given. That reality caused many amateur investors to exit stocks again. It ended with the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a potential “black swan” event that no one saw coming and surprised even the Treasury and the Fed. The failure will cause a ripple effect of damage for their investors, investors in other banking stocks, and for the many depositor companies whose cash is suddenly gone. As of this writing, there is no update as to whether the FDIC has found a buyer or whether it will step in with deposit guarantees to calm the banking sector/stock market before the open on Monday. Lacking that update, there is a wide array of speculation about next week – everything from a trading halt in the stock market, a banking closure to prevent a wider bank run, to a Fed deal to support the failed bank which could minimize damage and actually relieve investors to the point of a relief rally. Our short positions were gainers, our long positions were losers. Much uncertainty at this point, but once again analytics are indicating institutional stock investors were NOT among the sellers on Friday nor will they be selling on Monday’s open - which could be a trap anyway if prices gap further down at the open only to recover later. Very unusual and challenging times indeed. *UPDATE: Fed, Treasury, FDIC joint statement just announced all SVB depositors will be completely protected and all deposits available tomorrow. Stock market investor response may be positive.

Performance for our Level 1 Newsletter (20 of the top 60 performing stocks) 1 new weekly high among long positions. 3 stocks with double-digit % long gains: DDD +18 ASTS +23 PUMP +96 Locking in long gain of +14% in VTNR (22 weeks). 3 new weekly lows among short positions. 3 stocks with double-digit % short gain: ALT +19 MDRX +19 ROIV +12 We follow the smart money, institutional investors. Subscribe and get your first month free at www.stocktraderadvisory.com